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Tag Archive | "Mercedes"
VETTEL ON POLE AGAIN AT MONZA
Speculation that Red Bull's dominance over pole position this season would come to an end in Italy proved wrong, with Sebastian Vettel taking his least-predictable P1 of the year at Monza. The German, who almost lost his car as he slid through the Ascari chicane, recovered to bank an unbeatable lap time of 1m 22.275 seconds. 'We thought it would be much closer than that,' said Vettel. 'We are quite quick throughout all three sectors, so we just had to put it together.' The German was stuck in traffic as all cars but Senna left the pitlane at once, but mistakes by Hamilton, Button's decision to abandon his fast lap, and teammate Mark Webber unable to extract the same pace from the Red Bull meant that he kept the RBR7's 100 per cent pole record for 2011 alive. 'We were not expecting, not thinking of being on pole by that margin,' he continued. 'This year, I have to say the car is very good here. The balance is perfect.' The pace promised by McLaren in the lead up to the Italian Grand Prix was only good enough P2, with Hamilton pipping teammate Button to the front from by half a tenth. 'Sebastian was mega quick today. It looked like we'd be quite competitive in the weekend, but that last lap was untouchable for me,' elaborated Hamilton. 'I didn't have another half a second in the bag. We perhaps could have got another couple of tenths out of the car.' Button noted that despite Red Bull running a seemingly lower downforce package than McLaren, they still managed to move faster in the high speed turns.
Continue reading...AUDI ENDURANCE DOMINANCE CONTINUES AT SPA
Monday, August 1, 2011
Audi have backed up their 2011 Le Mans victory with a win in the most important endurance race for GT cars, the Spa 24 hours. The Audi R8 LMS GT3 of DTM stars Mattias Ekström (Sweden) Timo Scheider (Germany) and Belgian endurance specialist Greg Franchi led home teams from BMW and Mercedes-Benz. Experts agreed before the race started that the endurance classic, held since 1924, had never fielded so many potential winners as this year. A total of 62 cars representing 13 different manufacturers joined the grid, including no less than 57 cars of the booming GT3 category. The opening stages of the endurance classic fulfilled all expectations. Spectators lining the 7.004 kilometre track and in front of television screens enjoyed tough battles for position, countless overtaking manoeuvres, retirements and small and big dramas which are typical for a 24-hour race. The Audi R8 LMS was the fastest car in the field from the very beginning. After just a few hours it was clear that the V10 powered R8 sports cars where the favourites for victory. The race of the victorious #33 R8 LMS fielded by Audi Sport Team WRT was particularly impressive. The car driven by Mattias Ekström, Greg Franchi and Timo Scheider ran like clockwork for 24 hours, while many other GT3 cars were no match for the stresses and strains of the hard fought endurance race. The brake discs and pads were changed twice as scheduled. Apart from this, the R8 LMS only entered pit lane to refuel, change tires and to swap drivers. At the start of the tenth hour Ekström/Franchi/Scheider took the lead which they duly held all the way to the checkered flag. At the finish the trio had a two-lap lead over the closest rival.
Continue reading...THE PROFITS OF CAPTAIN PENSKE
Friday, July 30, 2010
Success on the racetrack is not the only source of good news for US racing legend Roger Penske. Penske’s US based Auto sales and dealer network, has reported an impressive $29.4 million second quarter operating profit. Penske Automotive Group Inc. is the United States’ second-largest dealer holding company, and it has seen a 16% rise in [...]
Continue reading...WEBBER REIGNS IN SPAIN
Monday, May 10, 2010
Australian driver Mark Webber has won his third Formula One Grand Prix with an all the way win in the Spanish Grand Prix in Barcelona. Webber started from pole and held off Red Bull team-mate Sebastian Vettel and McLaren's Lewis Hamilton into the first corner and from there was never really in any trouble. Hamilton looked set for second place after a forceful pass after leaving the pits that snookered Vettel, But a left hand front tyre failure with only a lap to go put the silver and red McLaren into the wall. This put Ferrari's Fernando Alonso into second much to the delight of the home town crowd. Vettel hung on for third despite failing brakes which had his worried team on the radio urging the German to slow down.
Continue reading...POLICE TO CHARGE “HOON” HAMILTON
Saturday, March 27, 2010
2008 World Champion Formula One driver Lewis Hamilton has become a victim of the Victorian Government's Anti-Hoon laws after he was pulled over by Victorian Police last night. Hamilton was leaving the Albert Park circuit when he allegedly did a burnout in his road going Mercedes. In a statement issued by McLaren late last night Hamilton said: "This evening, I was driving in an over-exuberant manner and, as a result, was stopped by the police. "What I did was silly, and I want to apologise for it."
Continue reading...BUTTON WINS, MELBOURNE MEDIA LOSES
Monday, March 30, 2009
The sensational win by Jenson Button of the Australian Grand Prix has reinvigorated the sport. The team formally known as Honda faced extinction only six weeks ago and yesterday in front of over 105'000 people the new Brawn GP team dominated as Button led team-mate Rubens Barrichello home in a Brawn Mercedes 1-2. Toyota's Timo Glock crossed the line in third but was later penalised for passing under a yellow flag giving reigning World Champion Lewis Hamilton the final podium spot. Local hero Mark Webber again had a dire home GP after tangling with Barrichello into turn one forcing him into the pits and well out of contention. After the race an emotional Webber couldn't hide his intense disappointment. "For all the fans to come and watch today, I wanted a good result for many reasons today." Drivers were critical of the race's new start time with glare from the setting sun causing problems for several drivers including the winner. It was really difficult, you know a few of the corners, it's strange for such an open circuit you could not see the exit of the corners at all," he said. "I used a visor that was slightly tinted and that was the correct thing to do, but with the glare from the sun and the change in light from the trees it was so, so difficult - so easy to put a wheel wrong." Toro Roso driver Sebastian Bourdais was one of the most vocal critics "We do half of a lap with the sun in your eyes," he said. "It's not the most enjoyable racing. Visibility is quite poor. Turn one is difficult, turn three is difficult. The shade from the trees makes it tough to get your eyes accustomed." Despite the current economic crisis and a clash with the local AFL football ( a regional curiosity much loved by the simple folk) crowds were down only about 16'000 overall. The race day crowd of 105'000 was only 3000 down on last year yet the Melbourne mainstream media have seized upon the downturn as a clear sign that the GP has passed it's use by date and that it should be shut down. Led by the taxpayer funded ABC, who launched into a tirade of the evils of taxpayer funding, and the inner-city broadsheet The Age, the football dominated Melbourne media spent most of the weekend trying to find any reason real or imagined to attack the race. Well known and respected football journalist Caroline Wilson was totally dismissive of the event when it came to discussion on the myopic ABC gabfest "The Outsiders"
Continue reading...A McLAREN MERCEDES FOR YOU AT HOME
Wednesday, October 1, 2008
The latest collaboration between Mercedes and their F1 Partners at McLaren has just been released, but for those of you down under don't get too excited, You can't have one. Named the SLR Roadster 722 S, the new car pays tribute to the historic victory at the Mille Miglia long-distance race in 1955 by British motor-racing legend Stirling Moss and his co-driver Dennis Jenkinson, in a Mercedes-Benz 300 SLR with the starting number 722. Powering the SLR Roadster 722 S is a supercharged 5.5-litre V8 engine hand-built by the Mercedes-AMG engine shop. With an output of 478 kW and 820 Nm of torque, power is put to the road by a five-speed automatic transmission developed by Mercedes-Benz. It is specially configured for a very high torque, and allows the driver to choose between two sets of shift characteristics. As a result the roadster powers from zero to 100 km/h in just 3.7 seconds, with 200 km/h in 10.6 seconds.
Continue reading...WINSLOW WRAPS IT UP AS ENGINE SINKS TANDER
Sunday, September 21, 2008
An engine drama in race one has cost Leanne Tander her chance at the 2008 Australian Drivers Championship for the CAMS Gold Star despite winning the weekend's F3 feature race at Tasmania's Symmons Plains. With Tander out of the first race the title went to English driver James Winslow. Winslow wrapped up the title by winning race one on the final lap after a rain shower made the 2.4km Symmons Plains circuit slippery and cost race leader Stuart Kostera the win. “It is just unbelievable. After the year I have had I don’t know quite what to feel. It hasn’t sunk in yet,” he said. “I knew that Leanne was out of the race but I was so determined to win the championship in race one I pressed on as hard as I could. That’s why I challenged Kostera when he passed me because I wanted to win to make sure of it.” Winslow has battled for funding all year and at the earlier Phillip Island round had told In Pit Lane that he might not even make it to Tasmania.
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